The Art of It

You are invited to the Opening of the Constantiaberg Art Society's SPRING EXHIBITION on FRIDAY 25TH AUGUST 2017 at​ 18h30 At the Richard Crowie Lecture Hall Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. T​he Exhibition will be opened by LESLEY CHARNOCK, Renowned local artist and teacher.  Wine and snacks will be served. The Exhibition will be open from 9h30 to 17h30 daily Friday 25th August - Thursday 7th September 2017. This invitation allows 2 guests free entry into Kirstenbosch Gardens after 17h30 for the Opening only

This is a slightly different view of the Cable Car from Signal Hill.  This was on exhibition a few weeks ago and I noticed some changes that needed to be done.  Amazing how one keeps on seeing little tweaks that need to be seen to!  Hopefully it is now finished!

Last year we spent many weeks painting on Signal Hill. This was another small painting done from a short way along the path leading off the car park.  I have also done a larger variation of this view which I will post at a later date.

Being very short of time at the moment I have put in three weeks worth of en plein air paintings. This is the first. This mountain of ours is very imposing! These were all done from the Tafelberg Road parking lot. This was the second painting from the following week. The first was a total write off! These things happen, and I am learning to live with it. Then came Tuesday the 5th May!!!! The mist came swirling in over the saddle betweenSignal Hill and Lions Head. It came roaring up through the City and over Devils peak. This was the most amazing painting day. We couldn't get our easels up and functioning fast eough. Butterflies in the tummy! You could smell the mist while you painted! What an experience!!!! I managed to do two paintings. The first facing Signal Hill, which was invisable, and the second facing Devils Peak, which kept on disappearing. All the above are very small, 285mm by 200mm. I feel more comfortable at the moment painting small. The last two painti...

Our venue was changed from Maidens Cove to Tabelberg Road parking lot, due to the direction of the wind. We paint with this amazing lady who knows all these things due to many years of painting en plain air. For those who don't know Cape Town, this road runs along the base of Table Mountain and the Cable Car lower station is situated on it. In every direction there are spectacular views. Now I start my brush miles in ernest! This was my first take on the area, looking directly up towards the cable car on the top of Table Mountain. This is one very imposing mountain. This was done the following week looking towards Devils Peak, Table Mountain is on the right hand side of this. You can see some of the burnt trees from the regular fires we have in March. Painting outside is incredibly difficult and totally addictive. While standing out there in the wind and sun in this spectacularly beautiful place we are so fortunate to live in, you get surges of excitement rushing through you...

These are two more pictures taken last weekend. Look at the previous post for the background to the challenge we set ourselves. Any comments?

Last weekend we decided to take a drive through to Blaauwberg for lunch and some photography. A visit to Doodles Restaurant, a pubby little place with good food, a boisterous clientele and rather slow service filled the hollow and a couple of beers set the mood for a long walk on the beach and a few photographs. Blaauwberg beach is the vantage point from which the familiar “trademark” picture of Table Mountain is usually taken. So many photographs of “our” mountain have been taken from this vicinity that it has become something of a “photographic cliché.” To try and produce something fresh and interesting was the challenge we set ourselves. Here are two of the many pictures we took. Do you think we succeeded? We will probably post one or two more in a day or two.